


that look in their eyes is coming back

by protegostark (aaeiilnn)



Series: all that i love (all that i need) [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Civil War Team Iron Man, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Dumbledore's Army, Friendship, Gen, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, Hurt Tony Stark, Minister for Magic Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom is a Good Friend, Not Steve Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Professor Neville Longbottom, Protective Hermione Granger, Ravenclaw Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23209849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaeiilnn/pseuds/protegostark
Summary: "I haven't seen you for years but it's like you never lifted your eyes from a book." His voice was raspy from the lack of use, but it did the job and got the woman's attention.Hermione Granger gasped and jumped up from her seat to rush to him. "Tony, you're awake! You had us so worried!"He grinned weakly. "What kind of great luck do I have that I managed to get the attention of the Headmaster of Hogwarts and the future Minister for Magic?"Prompts:HPQuoteBingo: "But he hadn't said thank you at all! He only said he didn't think Harry was a waste of space."SuperpowerBingo: Healing
Relationships: Hermione Granger & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Neville Longbottom
Series: all that i love (all that i need) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623931
Comments: 13
Kudos: 178





	that look in their eyes is coming back

**Author's Note:**

> ok to be fair  
> 1) i didnt use the WHOLE quote and it really was just an inspiration for a certain part here  
> 2) the healing superpower isnt a superpower??? i just showed a healing process but not even the process argh anyway i obviously didnt follow it the way i usually do
> 
> NOTE: THIS IS NOT A HERMIONExTONY tyvm but this is KINDA NOT STEVE FRIENDLY
> 
> title from: what do you say by team starkid
> 
> Prompts:  
> HPQuoteBingo: "But he hadnt said thank you at all! He only said he didn't think Harry was a waste of space."  
> SuperpowerBingo: Healing

He took a bit of time to catch his breath, but it seems like that was one of his biggest mistakes at the moment. 

And he's been making a lot of mistakes nowadays. His whole life, really. 

The time that he took to get his head together wasn't time used wisely because now it hurts _everywhere_. The adrenaline that had kept him going through the fight (which, by the way, if he was in his usual state of mind, he would have patted himself in the back for standing up against two super soldiers, but he's not really _standing_ right now) was now gone and the pain is hitting him strongly. 

FRIDAY wasn't responding. He has no idea if she was able to get an S.O.S. message out. He has no idea how long until rescue will get to him, or if there even was someone heading his way to help. ( _Please, let there be someone_.) He has no idea how he's going to get out of this bunker. But he does come across a sudden realization — he can't get out of the suit. 

No, he has a button inside his gauntlet he can press right now and the suit would remove itself without any problems. But he knows he shouldn't because, fuck, some pieces of it are piercing his skin. 

Since he can fly, there's not always much hand-to-gauntlet combat that he goes through in regular missions when he was an Avenger. If he did, it was still easily handled. This was the first that he actually had parts of his suit stabbing him everywhere, and it _hurts_. The biggest piece was on his chest where _someone_ took the grand opportunity and stabbed him with the shield that lay a few feet away from him. The chest piece had caved in and he feels cold metal parts piercing something inside him and suddenly — he can't breathe.

He can't breathe properly, or maybe he can't breathe at all? The lack of oxygen prevents him from understanding if this was because of the piece impaled in his skin or if it was just an old friend called panic attack dropping by again. Despite not having any control of his mind, his body moved on its own and instinctively responded to the situation by triggering the manual release.

It peeled away from him and he gasped. He could have sworn he saw blood splatter out of his body when some of the pieces were pulled out. The automatic follow-up action was reaching for the helmet part and attempting to turn on the tracker. But he knew, as tears involuntarily escaped his eyes because of the pain, that they won't get there in time. 

So, he had to go for the last _last_ resort. Tony reached into his pocket — every inch of his body protesting and begging him to just stop because it _hurts_ — and weakly grasped at the gold coin he secretly kept on his person at all times. He ran his thumb across the serial numbers at the edge of the coin, willing them to change as he felt it grow warm to his touch. When he was satisfied, his grip loosened and the coin had rolled away. 

Again, another stupid decision. How is he going to contact anyone now?

Fortunately, a few seconds later, though it may have felt like hours because of the oxygen situation still happening, he heard a familiar _pop!_ from the next room. It was followed by a voice, then another pop! and another voice joining it. Tony wanted to call out so badly, but a pro to his situation is that he was loudly and desperately gasping for air. Whoever had answered his call for help found him immediately and he couldn't do anything more except lose consciousness the moment they got to him. 

—×—•—×—

His sense of hearing was the first thing that came around. There was a voice in the distance, saying words he couldn't really understand at the moment, but it was completely silent apart from that.

His sense of taste registered as well, and there was a familiar but disgusting sour taste in his mouth that he had hoped to never taste again. His mouth also felt so dry that he thinks opening it would make his lips start bleeding immediately. 

There's that familiar scent again, he realizes when his nose also began categorizing what it could. It was a scent he associated with mistakes, but now he means the fun ones that only other people recognize to be a mistake while he sees those moments as examples of his brilliance. 

He didn't realize his sense of touch and feeling had returned until he noticed the numbness that his body was wrapped in, burying the pain under it so that it was dull. It was, again, a familiar sensation but it was his first time to feel it throughout his entire body. Usually, it was just a finger. Or an arm. 

When all those began starting his brain up again, he forced his eyes to open and mentally thanked the person who was smart enough to have the lights dimmed until it was practically unnoticeable. He blinked at the darkness, adjusting to what little light was there until he found a familiar figure sitting on a couch, reading a book. 

"I haven't seen you for years but it's like you never lifted your eyes from a book." His voice was raspy from the lack of use, but it did the job and got the woman's attention. 

Hermione Granger gasped and jumped up from her seat to rush to him. "Tony, you're awake! You had us so worried!" 

"Us?" He asked. 

"I'm not the only one who got the message. Neville did too."

He grinned weakly. "What kind of great luck do I have that I managed to get the attention of the Headmaster of Hogwarts and the future Minister for Magic? Honestly, Matilda, you haven't aged a day since the last time I saw you."

"Your flattery won't save you from my questions, Tony." She sighed. "Though I'll admit I checked in on the current muggle news and I think I have bits and pieces of the answers already." Then she leaned in with narrowed eyes and a small smile. "And don't you dare say that bit about my possible future profession. I won't have you jinx it."

He laughed, but it didn't feel as good as it should have to do so genuinely for the longest time since the pain spiked again. It must have shown on his face because Hermione immediately pressed something by the bedside table that, Tony assumed, would call the attention of one of the St. Mungo's healers. 

She looked at him, very concerned yet silent as a healer did come in to give Tony a potion to drink. The disgusting sour taste was back, but he put up with it because the pain was dull once more. The healer left, clearly sensing that there was something to be discussed in private, motioning to the items left on the bedside table to be used if needed. 

He heard Hermione sigh again as she took a seat on the chair that was placed near his bed. 

"Tony, can you tell me what happened?" 

—×—•—×—

People knew Tony went to MIT, but it's like they never bothered to know where he went before that. He remembers some articles saying he was homeschooled, others were claiming he went to a prestigious science high school, but none of those were really publicly confirmed. 

To be fair, they got some of it right. He did get homeschooled about all the science and math and need-to-know things if you're the son of a famous and wealthy businessman. And he also did go to a 'prestigious' school, with its Great Hall and many exhausting stairs. It just wasn't a science one.

(Well, some would argue that magic is just science yet to be understood, but that argument has been exhausting Tony endlessly for years now. _Because_ people have different subjective definitions of what magic _is_ and it's incredibly _frustrating_ when people get into a debate about it and _don't even_ – No. The point is: it's practically a banned topic of conversation around Tony Stark.)

His dad was, as people would call it, a no-maj or a muggle. His mom was a witch. (He and Seamus Finnigan had that in common and nothing else.) Maria Stark née Carbonell had grown up in London, despite her American roots, and went to Hogwarts for seven years. The same can be said for her parents, and her parents' parents, and her whole pureblood family. 

He grew up with his mother telling him stories of Hogwarts and showing him bits of magic like making a pencil float on air. Those were memories of his childhood that he always looked back on with fondness. He recalls how it was one of the few moments when he and his father would just wholeheartedly accept that this wasn't something they'd be touching with their experiments and they'd both get along by asking questions or watching with childlike wonder. 

When Tony showed signs of inheriting his mother's magical capabilities, the entire family was excited, and they'd all looked forward to receiving his Hogwarts letter. He had also been invited to attend Ilvermorny instead, but Hogwarts was the only choice for him from the start. Howard had also been accepting of his decision and was supportive as long as Tony would keep up his studies in the non-magical world. 

(There's always a part of him that wondered whether they would have been able to maintain a good father-son relationship with each other if he had chosen to go to Ilvermorny instead. The more time he spent away, the more Howard became more 'Howard' instead of 'dad'.) 

He had entered Hogwarts and was sorted, after two minutes of sitting on that stool, into Ravenclaw. He had suspicions that that's where he would have ended up with, but that didn't stop him from feeling a bit disappointed he hadn't landed a spot in his mother's house, Hufflepuff. 

He found out that the infamous Harry Potter was just one year above him, but generally steered clear due to understanding what it was like to have a name known by the public. He made friends in his own house, but had mostly drowned himself in the books at the library (where he met a real-life Matilda a.k.a. Hermione Granger, who turned out to be one of his closest friends, despite her being a year older). 

It was a fun learning journey, until it wasn't. The first year started with the most irritating professor and ended with a student nearly dying, then second year enters with a cool professor turning out to be a werewolf and nearly killing a student _again._ The third year caused doubts for Howard and Maria.

It was bad enough that they chose to bring back a dangerous tournament, but to have it end with Voldemort himself apparently coming back? Maria was going to pull him out of the school but Tony had managed to convince her to let him stay.

The fourth year was the last straw. When he felt the quill carving words into his skin for the twelfth time because he had helped a younger student escape Filch, he knew he wasn't coming back. The twelve different phrases that had been scratched and scarred onto his skin took a long while to heal and fade, but if he stared at his hands for a long time, he's sure it was still there. The only thing that made it all worth it was the freedom to learn they had when the students, led by Harry Potter, started the D.A.. 

Still, when Maria found out about everything that happened (because Tony could never hide a thing from her), including the fact that Voldemort really has risen from the dead, she officially pulled him out of Hogwarts and had encouraged him to go to a muggle school instead. (MIT to make the old man proud, but apparently that wasn't enough.)

Everything after, he heard about through letters or their subscription to the Daily Prophet (which was, honestly, useless). When the war came and the coin heated up with a message from Neville, a part of him wanted to go but he couldn't pull away from the spotlight and his grief just months after his parents died, so he just did what he can on the muggle side of things — offering shelters to families who needed to hide.

When he finally took control of the company four years later, he had built up connections with the Wizarding World once more to prevent a problem from lack of communication. He also set up his own magical company that specialized in manipulating muggle devices to work in the Wizarding World. That company, Magicked™, was now one of the biggest ones in all parts of the (magical) world.

So then, he was rich and popular in two worlds.

But that's not the point.

The fact is: if this world didn't want Tony Stark, he didn't need to stay. 

Especially now that Pepper is the CEO and would support him in his decision. Especially now that he could find a better cure for Rhodey from the wide range of potions. Especially now that the world is going to chew him up and spit him out again after his own teammate left him in the cold to possibly die. 

He doesn't need to stay. And he doesn't exactly want to either.

"Hey, Tony! Glad to see awake." Neville greeted when he slipped through the door hours after he woke up. "How are you doing?"

"Healing." Tony grinned. "You know, people didn't really understand my hate for hospitals but they never realize I'm only talking about the muggle ones. It was always an honor to end up in the hospital wing back then. It means I caused enough chaos that the Madam Pomfrey couldn't just hand me a potion and be done with it."

Neville shook his head. "I had thoughts of asking you to maybe speak at one of the classes, but perhaps it wouldn't be the best idea to have you talking with the students."

"Oh, that's right! Headmaster Neville!" Tony exclaimed. "It's a bit weird to be calling you professor, but I never did come up with a nickname for you."

"Glad you never took the opportunity to do so, like some other people."

"My nicknames are not meant to bully people, Professor." Tony narrowed his eyes, then grinned. "Ooh, I like how professional it sounds. You're definitely 'Professor' or 'Headmaster' now. How about Hogwarts C.E.O.? Wouldn't be the first time I gave that title to someone."

"Shush, both of you." Hermione interrupted, staring at one of the Magicked™ T.V.s that the company donated to St. Mungo's rooms. (Because if anyone knows how boring and lonely it could be in a hospital room, it would be Tony.) 

"Ooh, the future Minister of Magic is getting mad." Tony teased, only to receive a glare in response. He looked at what the T.V. was showing, only to be surprised that he recognized it. "What, why are we watching this?"

On the screen is a muggle news channel that was talking about what they have dubbed the 'Avengers Civil War' and how Tony Stark was nowhere to be found. Interestingly enough, they had other news.

_"Meanwhile, Pepper Potts, the C.E.O. of Stark Industries and a close friend of Tony Stark, has surrendered a package delivered to the Avengers Compound earlier today which was proven to be sent by Steve Rogers, Captain America, himself. Currently, experts are trying to use the package as a way to identify the current location of Rogers and, perhaps, the other Rogue Avengers, as social media users have begun to call them._

_"Just a few minutes ago, a statement was released regarding the package, indicating that it contained a handwritten letter and a burner phone with one phone number that is said to be Rogers', in it. The authorities have tried to contact the phone number and track it down to no avail. Meanwhile, the contents of the letter have also been released and we will be reading it to you in order to give the full context of the situation:_

**_"Tony, I'm glad you're back at the compound. I don't like the idea of you rattling around a mansion by yourself. We all need family. The Avengers are yours, maybe more so than mine. I've been on my own since I was 18. I never really fit in anywhere, even in the army. My faith's in people, I guess. Individuals. And I'm happy to say that, for the most part, they haven't let me down. Which is why I can't let them down either. Locks can be replaced, but maybe they shouldn't. I know I hurt you, Tony. I guess I thought by not telling you about your parents I was sparing you, but I can see now that I was really sparing myself, and I'm sorry. Hopefully, one day you can understand. I wish we agreed on the Accords, I really do. I know you're doing what you believe in, and that's all any of us can do — that's all any of us should. So_** **_no matter what. I promise you, if you need us, if you need me, I'll be there._ **

_"Through this letter, a lot more questions have been raised: What is Steve Rogers planning to do? What exactly was the opinion of both sides regarding the Accords? What happened to Howard and Maria Stark?_

_"Many comments from the public have asked whether their safety is now jeopardized now that the Avengers seems to have reached an end. With a lack of further information, there are no conclusive answers, but it seems that the UN and the different governments are trying to find a way to deliver the answers the public is desperately demanding._

"Are you going back?" Neville asked when the news reporter started to close the show. 

Hermione turned to look at Tony quickly. "No, you're not."

Tony raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, I may or may not have decided anything yet, but I'm open to listen."

"That was terrible, Tony." Hermione exclaimed as he sat down beside his bed. "I do my best to keep up with muggle news because I find it interesting, helpful, and it's a way to foresee potential problems and solve them. So, I know about this fun little group that you've joined. I've watched and read about the missions that you've been on. I know you, Tony, and I know that you've given so much for this team. To have your supposed leader beat you up and not even have the courage to apologize to your face? Honestly, the _nerve_."

"To be fair, he can't find me here and I don't think I'd like to see his face right now."

"He shouldn't have done this to you in the first place."

"Well—"

"No!" Hermione stopped him. "I know you told me earlier that you found out your parents have been murdered and the person who did it was standing right beside you." He distinctly noted Neville gasping at the revelation. "That gives you enough reason to want to hurt someone and, as the leader of a group, that Captain should have known how to deal with you without leaving you in a freezing bunker to die!"

"He said the Avengers is yours." Neville added with a frown. "What do you plan to do about that?"

Tony frowned. "Well, technically there'd only be three of us left and the Avengers was already under my name since SHIELD fell, so just do what I'm already doing and try to recruit other people? But—"

"You don't sound sure, Tony."

"Of course I'm not sure—"

"Which isn't normal." Hermione interrupted gently. "You're Tony Stark and you make plans without hesitating. Why is this different?"

"Because look at where we ended up." He gestured to the screen that was muted but was showing past clips of the Avengers. "I was so sure of this team and now look at where we are. You said it earlier, I gave up a lot for this. I barely got to work with Magicked when things grew bigger with the Avengers because that took up so much of my time."

"And did they thank you for that?" Neville asked. "Because you're known to spend days working for Magicked to come up with something new, and if you had to give up that much time for a team then it seems like you're the reason it was still running."

"' _Sorry, but not really_.'" Hermione muttered, staring at the screen again. "' _I value people's opinions, but not yours_ '. That's what I was getting from that letter. He didn't say thank you at all, he didn't mention anything about leaving you to die, he just said ' _we were both wrong, but I was more right_ '. I don't know these people personally, but it terrifies me to think you'd want to go back to them."

"If I do go back, it wouldn't be to them. Hermione, you don't understand, there is a threat out there bigger than anything we've ever seen. Bigger than Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and the muggles stand no chance at surviving it."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, and the way looked at him with determination brought him back to when she first brought the idea of D.A. in the library. Tony focused too. "What do you mean?"

"Four years ago, you heard about how I went into that wormhole? The big circle thing that leads to outer space? There was a whole army that would have killed us all if the entrance was just a bit bigger. And I'm not stupid enough to believe that that's the only one out there."

Neville looked at him thoughtfully. "You think there's more?"

"And they're going to attack us, and we're not gonna be lucky enough. This team," Tony's eyes drifted back to the screen again, still showing recaps of what had happened in the last few years, "This team was supposed to be something that can give them a chance."

"Did you tell the ministry about this?" Hermione demanded.

"I don't have all the proof I want to have to prove it to the entire community, Hermione." Tony closed his eyes. "I couldn't convince the people I fought with against those aliens that there were others coming, how was I supposed to convince witches and wizards who still have a hard time understanding the difference in muggle currencies." He opened his eyes and saw Hermione's disapproval. "But I've had people in Magicked working on something for it. Just in case."

"Merlin's sake, Tony! You could have come to me! Any of us would have at least listened." Hermione shook her head. "That's it. You will contact who you need to in the muggle world and tell them you'll be unavailable for a while."

Tony breathed out a sigh of relief. It was the first time in a while that someone believed him without a second thought. "Am I being sentenced to Azkaban for withholding information?" He asked with a grin. 

Neville laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes. "No, worse. You're going to talk with Ministry officials to set up a defense and offense plan for this possible alien attack in the future."

"That's worse than dealing with board members in Stark Industries!"

"Don't fret, Anthony." Hermione patted his hand as she stood up. "I'll go with you, you won't be alone."

"My help is also available if needed." Neville added. "After all, as the Headmaster of one of the biggest magical schools, I have a bit of pull now."

"Great," Tony said, his eyes bright and his mind now running with infinite possibilities. "I look forward to doing business with you."

**Author's Note:**

> ngl, this wasnt my best work, felt really rushed for me but all the post-cw fics on this site is giving me so much feels i have to put it somewhere so here it is
> 
> note to self: edit this to make it have more sense ??? but also i think there's going to be a follow up sometime soon  
> >> i tried to show that tony already had half the decision to stay in the wizarding world instead of going back and mione just pushed it but idk if that was communicated well  
> >>supposedly tony went to MIT at 15 yrs of age so he left hogwarts after his fourth year (hp and crew's 5th year) but then hes older than the HP kids bUT this is fanfic and things always change
> 
> anyway hope yall at least liked the first part until background story cause i liked that


End file.
